Are the rich more trustworthy than the poor? That is the questioned imposed by putting heavy taxes on common consumer products or "sin taxes". Making alcohol or cigarettes more expensive via taxes, or firearms, is basically an attack against the poor, as it intends for us to believe that those with less financial means are somehow less responsible and should be priced out of being able to afford the same goods.
There was a bill proposed in the house that likely will die in the senate that wants to tax "assault weapons" by 1000%, which is by definition approximately 90% of guns in the U.S. It likely will fail when it reaches the senate, but it brings up an important question, if the goal is just to try and stop ordinary civilians from getting access to firearms, isn't this classist, and basically insisting that only the rich are responsible enough to handle owning guns? The average AR-15 is about 1000 bucks, so purchasing one would now become close to 10,000 dollars. Criminals don't have to worry about cost, as they steal money and a gun is an investment to help them steal more money (I.E. they can rob stores better with it), and most civilians don't make money by owning guns. And criminals can steal guns or get them from the black market, where a black market ak-47 is already close to 200 bucks internationally, and is fully automatic which is completely illegal in the U.S. anyways (for guns made after 1986).
Most criminals, approximately 85% or so, get their guns from the black market, as they wouldn't pass the background checks necessary to purchase guns in the first place. And they wouldn't want people to know that they purchased a gun if they plan on using it illegally, hence why they go through backroom channels. With illegal smuggling as high as it is and "ghost guns", it's relatively easy to manufacture or get these off the books as it is. This will decidedly have no impact on violence or criminals and simply punish poor people who try to defend themselves and can't afford armed security or expensive weapons. But, what do you think, do you support anti-poor policies to keep them from having the same privilege's and rights as rich people? If so, why, do you think the rich are inherently more trustworthy than the poor?
